Breitbart’s Advertisers And Readers Are Jumping Ship Left And Right

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign helped Breitbart News go from a niche right-wing news source to household name, especially after Breitbart co-founder Steve Bannon was invited to join the Trump administration. Despite that ascent in name recognition, however, Breitbart is hemorrhaging advertisers and readers.

The Washington Post reports that between March and May of this year, Breitbart lost 90% of its advertisers, with the number plummeting from 242 to 26. Readers aren’t showing up either, with unique visitors dropping 53% since the election. Some of the only remaining advertisers are a strip club, a golf resort, a background-check service, and a smattering of conservative foundations and publications.

The plummet in numbers has been going on for over six months. It really kicked off when Kellogg’s pulled its ads in December of 2016, which prompted Breitbart to blast the breakfast food giant for being leftist and “un-American.” A spokesperson from Breitbart stated, “Kellogg’s decision to blacklist one of the largest conservative media outlets in America is economic censorship of mainstream conservative political discourse.”

Breitbart president Tom Fitton has tried to spin the advertising hemorrhage as an attack by the left and point of pride. “Liberal activists want to destroy Breitbart, but we won’t be cowed,” he told the Post. They might not be cowed, but they aren’t exactly thriving, either. Other recent woes to plague the site are harder to blame on the opposition.

It will be a long while though before Breitbart runs out of relevance or totally succumbs to its losses. Between the publication’s friends in the highest office of land and the deep pockets of its allies, the site still has plenty of ink to spill on the white supremacy and sexism that have been its bread and butter for the past decade.

1) It’s hard to keep your base energized and generate clicks when you aren’t in the opposition anymore. Breitbart doesn’t have Obama and Hillary to kick around anymore. Instead, Republicans hold all the power in Washington and it’s just non-stop daily scandals, corruption, and dysfunction.
2) There are no shortage of Right Wing websites and outlets that are “out-Breitbarting” Breitbart. Ex: InfoWars. They’re getting beat at their own game by various competitors.

So this is why you’re seeing Breitbart trying to reinvent itself into a more legitimate conservative news outlet, in the model of Fox News.

Unfortunately for them it’s a little too late and probably not going to work. The switch-over is just going to alienate their hardcore crazies. It’s also harder to get advertisers back once their gone. It’s so tied to Trump, too, who is a walking embarrassment, so that’s not in its favor either.